Protection: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (43 page)

T
essa looked
over the crowd assembled in the Mess and bit her lip, nervous. Even though she wanted to be here and was determined to stick out the meeting, she worried that the rest of the pack might not be as forgiving as Jace and Kat. So far no one had mentioned her treachery, given her a nasty look, or even avoided her. It seemed that when Shaw said someone was forgiven, they really were forgiven. Every time that she thought she’d seen every facet of the Shifter culture, they surprised her all over again. They were wonderful, but so alien. In some parts of the human world she’d have been stoned to death by now.

Tessa had also worried that if the pack gathered there would be difficulty reaching a consensus with so many people; it had never occurred to her that the pack only boasted forty or so members, and that her real fear should be going up against the Legion with such a small contingent.

The babble of voices washed over her as she sat in the Mess Hall’s large dining room area, which resembled a middle school cafeteria. Tessa fidgeted, crossing and recrossing her legs to try to find a comfortable position on the narrow bench seat of the table she’d chosen. Resigning herself with a sigh, Tessa looked around and wondered where her mate had gone. He’d said something about the security office, and then dropped her in front of the Mess Hall. It had taken her a full minute to gather the courage to walk in alone.

Tessa noticed a delicious garlic smell wafting from the kitchen area, and her stomach growled in response. Tessa chuckled to herself; of course there was food being cooked. Shifters never thought about anything but food and sex, it seemed like. Not a bad way to live, all things considered.

“All right, everyone have a seat. We need to discuss all of this before we eat,” Shaw said, raising his deep voice to bring all the other conversations to a halt. Shaw stood and moved to the center of the Shifters who were scattered over a few tables. All eyes went to him, the pack watching their leader with perfect obedience.

“As most of you know, we are once again in conflict with the Legion. They have set up a base less than ten miles south of here, which means the Den is compromised,” Shaw explained.

A murmur of discontent rose from those assembled before Shaw raised a hand to silence the crowd. Tessa looked around to gauge the general feeling of the crowd, but it seemed too mixed for a consensus. She wondered what Jace thought, but he still had yet to appear.

“We must outline our choices and then make the best decision for the entire pack. For once, we are lucky to be such a young group with few mated pairs and no children. It will all come down to whether we defend the Den,” Shaw said, his expression grave.

“Are you suggesting that we should flee?” Angel demanded, her tone offended.

“I’m not suggesting anything. Let’s lay all the options out on the table,” Shaw said.

“I’m only seeing two: fight or flee. We’ll either lose the Den or potentially lose some lives,” Rhett rumbled from his seat, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck.

Tessa sensed Jace half a moment before he broke into the conversation, coming in through the side door and approaching the circle. He stopped next to Tessa, brushing a hand along her shoulder as he spoke.

“No. There is a third option,” Jace said. “We take the fight to them.”

Silence reigned for a full beat before the crowd burst into discussion, the noise level doubling and redoubling in a heartbeat.

“We fight them on their land?” Shaw asked, squinting as he imagined the possibilities.

“We fight them in their own compound,” Jace replied, all confidence now.

“You’re talking about giving up home field advantage here. What would be the benefit of that?” Cord asked.

“I don’t think you all understand. Unless I’m mistaken, out of everyone in this room only Maddie and I have actually seen the Legion take over a pack’s territory,” Jace bit out. Tessa could see him trying to keep his temper in check.

Everyone went silent for a long second. Tessa reached out and grabbed her mate’s warm hand in her cool one. Jace looked down at her for a long second before clearing his throat and making another attempt.

“What I am trying to say is that I know how they operate. They’ll try to preserve the Den itself, the magic is powerful enough to be worthwhile to them. They’ll have a plan in place to capture some of us and exterminate the rest of the pack. And they’re not going to be shooting blind, they’ll have several backup plans in place. By the time they come at us, we’re dead. We have no choice but to go to them,” Jace said, keeping his voice level.

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Declan spoke up, standing and moving to stand opposite Jace. “We’ve just now found out their location. I hardly think that qualifies us to launch an invasion on The Legion.”

Jace went still, again struggling to keep calm. Declan’s chin went up, and for a moment Tessa thought that Jace would lunge at the other wolf.

“Anyone who fights in this meeting will be kept from the real fight,” Shaw broke in, his voice authoritative.

Jace and Declan looked at Shaw for a moment, and then dropped their eyes in acknowledgment. They didn’t look happy, but the tension ratcheted down a notch.

“Declan does have a point,” Kat said, sticking up for her bother. “How the hell are we supposed to break into the Legion’s fortress or whatever?”

She crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat, unimpressed.

“We have insider knowledge,” Jace said, inclining his head toward Tessa.

Tessa was completely taken aback, her mouth opening in surprise. She looked up at Jace and he flashed her a look that encouraged her to speak out. Clearing her throat, she stood and joined her mate in the middle of the floor, giving Declan an apologetic look.

“We’ve gotten James— Jameson, that is, to tell us what the Legion is planning. He’s helping us,” Tessa said, her words coming out in a rush.

The room was quiet, listening. A better reception than she’d anticipated, to be sure. She kept going.

“James knows the whole Legion compound inside and out. We can use his knowledge to fight against them. It’ll take all of us working together, though,” she finished. She’d snuck that last bit in, knowing Jace wouldn’t like the idea of any of the females being involved.

“Sounds like our odds aren’t so bad, then,” Kat said. There were affirmative murmurs around the room, and Tessa felt a swell of appreciation for her new pack mates.

“We still need to put it to a vote,” Shaw broke in. “All in favor of leaving the Den behind and finding somewhere else to stay, show of hands.”

Everyone looked around, but not a single hand went up. A few seconds of silence ticked by before Shaw spoke again.

“All in favor of taking the fight to the Legion, hands up.”

Every hand in the room shot straight up. Shaw nodded.

“Alright. We fight.”

A cheer went up around the room, and Kat stood.

“Now we eat!” Kat shouted, and an even louder cheer erupted from the crowd, complete with clapping and whistling. Tessa had to laugh; trust Shifters to be even more concerned about food than the upcoming battle.

Everyone lined up to get plates loaded with lasagna, salad, pasta, and tiramisu. Chianti was poured for everyone who wanted it, and the whole pack settled down to dig in. Tessa was ravenous, and scarfed down a huge piece of lasagna plus a good bit of salad before she felt satisfied. Jace nudged her and pointed at the pasta still on her plate, and she pushed the plate over to him.

“You really should eat more,” he said, between mouthfuls of pasta and salad. Rhett and Kat were at their table, and both Shifters chimed their agreement that Tessa was underfed. Tessa laughed, again reminded of the Shifters’ dissimilarity to humans. As before, the fact warmed her heart.

She leaned her elbows on the table and looked around at the pack. They were talking, laughing, eating, toasting with their paper cups. Tessa’s heart swelled, a strange emotion taking her by surprise.

For the first time in her life, she actually belonged somewhere. There was a sense of rightness about her connection with these people, a sense of destiny fulfilled. When she looked over at Jace, who was pointing his fork at Maddie as if making an important point, a dam burst inside her heart.

She was… she was happy. Holy hell, was this what being truly happy was like? She wanted to shout, or do a cartwheel, or something. Instead she settled for slipping her arm around her mate’s waist and nuzzling his shoulder.

He slid his arm around her shoulders, turning to meet her gaze. Tessa let her happiness radiate out toward him, giving him a soft smile. He leaned down and kissed her, softly at first but of course it quickly turned passionate.

“Tone it down, guys. Us single people don’t want to see all that,” Kat complained, and Tessa broke the kiss with a giggle. Jace went back to eating, and Tessa sighed. The hall’s front door squeaked as it opened and closed, and Tessa turned to find Camilla making her way over.

There was a rustle and a scraping of chairs, and then a very heavy silence as Tessa stood and waved Camilla over to her table. Tessa sensed a wave of masculine energy rolling over the room, and she hurried to break the tension. Turning to the group, she made the introductions.

“Um, everyone, this is my sister Camilla,” Tessa said, slipping a protective arm around her sister’s waist.

“Hi,” Camilla said, giving everyone a brief wave before turning to speak to Tessa. “I smelled pasta sauce. I’m going to need to get in on that.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed or something?” Tessa asked. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted that the Shifters had mostly gone back to their conversations rather than staring at Camilla’s lithe frame.

“I feel hungry, that’s close enough to healthy in my book,” Camilla said, slipping out of Tessa’s embrace.

“Fine,” Tessa said with an eye roll. “Food’s over there.”

She pointed out the serving tables and watched Camilla halfway race over to make a plate.

“Well at least one of the Anderson sisters knows how to eat,” Jace joked. Tessa sighed and sat back down beside him.

“Less talk about my eating habits, more talk about how we’re not going to die?” Tessa suggested, arching a brow.

Camilla plunked down next to Tessa, nodding in greeting to Rhett and Kat. Tessa made introductions, and then returned to the conversation.

“The real problem is the witch, I think,” Jace mused aloud.

“How do you fight a witch?” Tessa asked, and everyone at the table shrugged.

“What, none of you know?” Tessa asked, looking around their table. Rhett, Kat, and Jace all shook their heads.

“You have to fight fire with fire,” came a deep rumble from just behind Tessa’s back, making her jump. They all turned to find Jesse sitting by himself at the next table over, eyes down as he focused on his food. Tessa was completely taken aback; she’d just assumed that since she’d never heard the male speak, he couldn’t speak.

“You’ve fought against a witch?” Jace asked, swinging a leg over the bench so that he could face the other Shifter head on.

Jesse nodded and set down his fork, chewing. At last he spoke again.

“Witches. Multiple.”

“And you’re saying that we need to pit one witch against another?” Kat asked.

Jesse cocked his head, mulling over her question. Then he shook his head.

“Not necessarily a witch. You need magic. It comes from more than one place, you know.”

“All supernaturals have some form of it. Elementals, vampires, werewolves, the Fae…” Rhett chipped in.

A thought tickled the edges of Tessa’s brain. Something… no, she’d lost it. She wrinkled her nose and tuned back in to what Jace was saying.

“I’m not sure how that helps us. We don’t have any of those guys lying around, waiting to do us favors. I doubt even Shaw has those kind of contacts. Shifters usually keep to themselves,” Jace said, rubbing his jaw.

“Don’t you guys have some magic swords or chalices lying around?” Camilla asked, all innocence. Tessa couldn’t tell if she was joking or being serious.

“This isn’t a Tolkien novel. Objects of power are pretty rare, so I’m pretty sure there aren’t any sprinkled around the Grass,” Jace intoned. Camilla just shrugged and went back to eating.

“Jesse? Any thoughts?” Kat asked, leaning over to look past Tessa to the next table. Jesse looked thoughtful for another moment before shaking his head. He got up and picked up his tray, moving back to the food line again.

Good thing this place provides the food, Tessa thought as she studied Jesse’s hulking form. The thought from earlier tickled at her brain again, and Tessa focused for a long beat. Then she jumped up, slapping Jace and Camilla’s arms.

“It’s magic!” Tessa shouted gleefully.

“Uh…” Kat began to break in.

“The Den is magic. It’s literally made of magic, and it changes to suit our needs,” Tessa said, smacking herself on the forehead.

“Yeah…” Rhett said, trying to understand. Camilla looked just plain confused.

“Think of it. The Den is sort of sentient, at least to the point that it understands our needs. Jace, you told me it was created by the Fae. It’s an object, and it’s made of magic. Doesn’t that sound like an object of power to you?” Tessa asked.

The table was quiet for a moment, and then everyone started talking at once, at full volume . It only took a couple of minutes for Tessa’s idea to spread across the room to Shaw.

“Okay, okay. Gather around everyone,” the alpha announced. The pack gathered around Tessa and Jace’s table, waiting for Shaw’s word.

“I believe Tessa has the right idea. The Den is designed to meet our needs, without further clarification. If, as Jace has suggested, we need to take the fight to the Legion’s territory, I have reason to believe that the Den will convey us to the location, follow us, and protect us.”

Claps and whistles broke out amongst the pack, and Shaw waited a moment before he waved the noise down.

“We still have to make a plan. We’ll need to draw the witches out, I assume. And there’s the matter of what happens after the witch is dealt with. Camilla and Tessa, we’ll need more information about the Legion’s property. Details about the defenses and manpower, and so forth. Jace and Cera, draw up a plan of attack. Declan and Rhett, get us some weapons and clothing from the outside. Kat, coordinate the teams.”